115th Congressional Dumpster Fire
T''he purpose of this page will be to compile Fark threads dealing with the dumpster fire that is the 115th U.S. Congress.'' =Background= This section will provide background information about the members of the 115th U.S. Congress, or their party affiliation, etc. any information to give a basic overview of the 115th U.S. Congress that does not necessarily need a Fark-related thread. * date first called into session: January 3, 2017 * date Americans can first expect relief: January 3, 2019 Names * Gov Track Contact your Congresscritter * House members * Senators =Fark Threads on Legislation= January Attempt to eliminate Office of Congressional Ethics # House Republicans so dedicated to draining the swamp they're gutting Congress' independent ethics watchdog # GOP: gutting ethics panel will "provide more accountability" (Update: They reversed it) # "Ha, yeah, we were just kidding about gutting the independent body that investigates political misconduct, honestly. Our complete reversal is nothing at all to do with someone using 280 characters or less" # If you would like to know how your representative voted on the "Goodlatte proposal" that aimed to kill the independent Office of Congressional Ethics and live in a district represented by a Republican member of Congress, then today is your lucky day # Dems organize against GOP ethics scandal. Media covers story. Trump sends out a tweet. GOP caves under public pressure. Media gives full credit to Trump. Media then writes articles like this one wondering how Trump got all the credit # Yesterday's abrupt reversal of Monday's surprise action by Congressional Republicans to gut the ethics process reveals Paul Ryan is carrying on an important tradition of John Boehner's speakership: being really bad at his job # Well, imagine that. It looks like Bob Goodlatte (R-epulsive Slime) had some personal reasons for wanting to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics Reinstatement of “Holman Rule" # While you and the rest of the world was gushing about the ethics office snafu, House Republicans quietly brought back a rule that will make it easier for Donald Trump to purge the federal government of any employees who disagree with him # The federal government now has a dollar menu Repeal of ACA # And so it begins: Senate Votes 51-48 to repeal Obamacare ## (Prelude and/or background) ### Obamacare repeal will only cost taxpayers approx. 1,750 F-35s. Not including R&D of course. Of course the other costs are not having insurance and hospitals paying for charity care and this is looking like a bad idea. What's the repeal plan again? ### Tl;dr: Trump voters hate ObamaCare but they like their plan with ACA and Medicare coverage but don't let the poors have it ### Actual Headline: 'Trump voters don't think...' Everything beyond that point is redundancy in its finest ### This is why GOP has a hard time to find a replacement for Obamacare: The Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare", is basically identical to the privatized mandate plan the Republicans were pushing for 40 years until Obama was elected # Paul Ryan promises Republicans will complete 'Obamacare' replacement this year. No word on if it will be replaced with a medical ponzi scheme, a wet sock, or plain good old nothing # Paul Ryan announces that there is a "Y'all women can go f*ck yourselves" provision in the Obamacare repeal # Americans to GOP: "Don't you dare repeal it without a replacement strategy" GOP: "LOLs, too late. Die quickly" # GOP realizes too late their attempt to repeal ACA was completely farking stupid # Bobby Jindal explains how the GOP should repeal Obamacare quickly without replacing it # Bombshell CBO report indicates ACA repeal will preserve coverage of 2 million more plans than previously anticipated # CBO: The GOP's plan to repeal Obamacare would make America great again for over 32M people ## Backlash ### Congress is hearing it from all sides after right wingers realized that Obamacare was the same as the ACA ### Texas Congressman holds a meeting so "local people affected by ObamaCare" can "share their experiences with rising costs and loss of coverage and choice,". Texas Congressman didn't think his cunning plan all the way through "REINS" Act # As bad as you thought it was going to be, it'll be worse: The House passes the Koch-requested, ALEC-drafted "REINS" act that blocks any and all federal regulations from taking effect unless both Houses on Congress vote to approve them in 70 days Budget for fiscal 2017 # It's not a $1 Trillion deficit when *WE* do it The "Bishop" rule # Free land Promote Accountability and Government Efficiency (PAGE) Act # Let's see, we've got our attacks underway on Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid. Social Security? Yeah, that, too. Civil Service? That, too -- liberals pushed that through in 1871, starting this nation's decline Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act # The incoming Congress is so laser focused on simplifying the tax code that it's introducing a tax deduction for golf clubs Raising H-1B Minimum Wage # Congress considers proposal to raise H-1B minimum wage to $100,000, or, in Silicon Valley terms, still underpaid "Strengthen and modernize" Endangered Species Act # Endangered species about to become a lot more endangered =Fark Threads on Congressional Investigations= Possible Russian Interference Of 2016 POTUS Election # Senate to investigate Russian hacking with hearings and will bring in both Obama and Trump people. Wikileaks immediately releases hacked emails that they did not in any way get from Russia ## CNN poll reveals most people don't believe that the Russian hacking changed the election or that they were chumps enough to be fooled into voting for a spoiled rich kid with bad hair =Fark Threads on Trump cabinet confirmation hearings= General # ♪ ♪ And the GOP with the plan is set to jam the Dems with a confirmation blitz--confirmation blitz OH YEAAAAAAAH IT'S A CONFIRMATION BLITZ ♪ ♪ # Warren: No confirmation hearings for Trump appointees until they're vetted for conflicts of interest # Cory Booker demands financial disclosure from Trump's cabinet picks before any hearings take place Sessions for Attorney General # The Democratic Party grows a spine and names it "Cory Booker" # Senate confirmation hearing for AG-nominee Jeff Sessions interrupted by hecklers, KKK attendees # "I pledge to protect the civil rights of every American as attorney general," claims Emperor Palpatine look-alike Jeff Sessions, whose record is so white it gets confused for a Beatles double album # Senator Jeff Sessions turns into a terrorist loving liberal, says waterboarding is illegal and opposes a blanket ban on Muslim visitors # Protester booted from Sessions confirmation for laughing at idea he treats 'all people equally' # Jeff Sessions to prove how not racist he is by having a white woman introduce him for Attorney General consideration. See? The female race loves him # Questions at the confirmation hearing for Jeff Sessions once again prove that Democrats are the REAL racists, because--wait, what? # Al Franken took the lead in grilling Jeff Sessions about what he would do if Trump is revealed to be a Russian sleeper agent Puzder for Labor Secretary # Andrew Puzder actually understands how to build an American workforce. Just not a well-compensated one # The Carl's Jr./Hardees CEO, and Trump's Secretary of Labor nominee, just wants to make life for fast food employees better by eliminating things like minimum wage, breaks and working extra hours without pay ## Andrew Puzder is suddenly second guessing his decision to become Labor Secretary, possibly after realizing the department requires actual humans and paperwork to run Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary # Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has pledged to divest assets worth millions. However, his assets worth billions he's holding on to Mattis for Secretary of Defense # Trump puts leash on Mad Dog Tillerson for Secretary of State # Marco Rubio can finally have his revenge against Trump Carson for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development # Equal rights are extra rights, according to Ben Carson # Add "equal rights" to the list of things perpetual narcoleptic Ben Carson doesn't understand DeVos for Education Secretary # In order to advance to the next level, Betsy DeVos will have to overcome Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. This is the political equivalent of Link armed with a wooden sword and bow with no arrows trying to take down Gannon # At her confirmation hearing, Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos said we need guns in school to protect us from grizzly bears. Stephen Colbert nods in approval # Betsy DeVos is unfit for pretty much any job # In case you missed Elizabeth Warren smacking Betsy DeVos around like a redheaded stepchild, we have video Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services # Trump's pick to lead the HHS department invested in a drug company, then introduced a bill a week later to help that same company # Tom Price claims that at no point in his life he has known what stocks he owns. Because we all know that billionaires just invest blindly and show no interest in their money Pruitt for Director of Environmental Protection Agency # Professional Swamp Drainer Donald Trump now facing a reality where his EPA selection was just implicated in a Super PAC scandal =Fark Threads on Members= Obedient GOP Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, VA 6th) * Well, imagine that. It looks like Bob Goodlatte (R-epulsive Slime) had some personal reasons for wanting to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics Senator Marco Rubio (R, FL) * GOP Senators have introduced a bill that would halve embassy security worldwide until the US Embassy is moved to Jerusalem. That's like 1,000 Benghazis Senator James Inhofe (R, OK) * Senator Jim Inhofe rejects extreme vetting. IOKIYAR Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R, UT 3rd) * As a sign of their continuing and relentless efforts to become the most ethical administration in US history, Republicans decide to attack the Office of Government Ethics for questioning Trump's ethics Rep. Mike Coffman (R, CO 6th) * After voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman (R-epugnant) sneaks out the back door prematurely when asked what he's going to replace Obamacare with ** Congress is hearing it from all sides after right wingers realized that Obamacare was the same as the ACA Everyone Else Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, MA) * Warren: No confirmation hearings for Trump appointees until they're vetted for conflicts of interest Senator Cory Booker (D, NJ) * Cory Booker demands financial disclosure from Trump's cabinet picks before any hearings take place * The Democratic Party grows a spine and names it "Cory Booker" Senator Chuck Schumer (D, NY) * Chuck Schumer did it. He actually. Farking. Did. It. He sent Yertle a copy of his own 2009 letter to the then-incoming Obama administration, which demanded that all Presidential nominees be fully vetted, paperwork completed, before being confirmed 10 Senators (Cardin (D, MD), McCain (R, AZ), Menendez (D, NJ), Shaheen (D, NH), Klobuchar (D, MN), Durbin (D, IL), Graham (R, SC), Rubio (R, FL), Sasse (R, NE), Portman (R, OH) * Republicans and Democrats work together to...sign into law recent Obama executive orders? Rep. John Lewis (D, GA 5th) * It is considered an honor to be invited to Selma with John Lewis; he has taken members of both parties with him over the years. But Lewis said one person he will never ask to join him is Donald Trump =See Also= * Drumpfster Fire * ALECworks